Evaluating and displaying feedback for an item distributed to a group of users at a collaborative event

ABSTRACT

Approaches presented herein enable evaluating and displaying feedback for an item distributed to a group of users, e.g., at a collaborative event. Specifically, at least one approach includes receiving the item (e.g., a topic, idea, product) from a first user, and distributing the item to the group of users, wherein the group of users is located within an identified geographic proximity to the first user. An assigned value (e.g., demand quantified though buy/sell data) is then received for the item from one or more users of the group of users, and displayed to the first user via a mobile device, along with a real-time location of each user of the group of users. In one approach, each user&#39;s mobile device displays a geographic distance from other users at the collaborative event.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to enhanced event participation and,more specifically, to optimized collaborative event engagement usinggamification.

2. Description of the Related Art

Many industries host or sponsor various types of events, includingseminars, conferences, trade shows, etc. Similarly, many professionalorganizations will sponsor and promote conventions. While these variousevents may be somewhat varied in size, scope, participants, and purpose,there are many common elements. For example, at most of these events,there are speakers, a topic/purpose, exhibits, vendors, etc. Aconference space is usually set up in a location at the event venue andthe speakers, vendors, and attendees interact through a series ofevents, meetings, speeches, discussions, etc.

While events are a significant and valuable way for attendees to enhancetheir professional and social relationships, attendees of these eventsincreasingly want to be entertained. While doing so, they arecontinuously seeking new levels of engagement that are personal andmeaningful. Businesses and organizations across industries from financeto defense are capitalizing on this trend by incorporating differingdegrees of aspects of games into their experiences. Games are a naturalmedium that one thinks of when considering cross-cultural, gender, andage-engaged entertainment. The range of aspects of games can start atthe lower end with gamification ramping up to a more explicit seriousgame. Gamification is in essence a motivation used to drive userbehavior. However, current gamified solutions for conferences aretypically limited to scavenger hunt style games, which have limitedappeal/effectiveness.

SUMMARY

In general, approaches presented herein enable evaluating and displayingfeedback for an item distributed to a group of users, e.g., at acollaborative event. Specifically, at least one approach includesreceiving the item (e.g., a topic, idea, product) from a first user, anddistributing the item to the group of users, wherein the group of usersis located within an identified geographic proximity to the first user.An assigned value (e.g., demand quantified though buy/sell data) is thenreceived for the item from one or more users of the group of users, anddisplayed to the first user via a mobile device, along with a real-timelocation of each user of the group of users. In one approach, eachuser's mobile device displays a geographic distance from other users atthe collaborative event.

One aspect of the present invention includes a method for evaluating anitem distributed to a group of users, the method comprising thecomputer-implemented steps of: receiving the item from a first user;distributing the item to the group of users, wherein the group of usersis located within an identified geographic proximity to the first user;receiving an assigned value for the item from one or more users of thegroup of users; and displaying, to the first user via a mobile device, areal-time location of each user of the group of users along with theassigned value from the one or more users of the group of users.

Another aspect of the present invention provides a system for evaluatingan item distributed to a group of users, comprising: a memory mediumcomprising program instructions; a bus coupled to the memory medium; anda processor, for executing the program instructions, coupled to ancollaboration tool via the bus that when executing the programinstructions causes the system to: receive the item from a first user;distribute the item to the group of users, wherein the group of users islocated within an identified geographic proximity to the first user;receive an assigned value for the item from one or more users of thegroup of users; and display, to the first user via a mobile device, areal-time location of each user of the group of users along with theassigned value from the one or more users of the group of users.

Another aspect of the present invention provides a computer programproduct for evaluating an item distributed to a group of users at acollaborative event, the computer program product comprising a computerreadable storage device, and program instructions stored on the computerreadable storage device, to: receive the item from a first user;distribute the item to the group of users, wherein the group of users islocated within an identified geographic proximity to the first user, andwherein the first user and the group of users are attendees of a sameinteractive event; receive an assigned value for the item from one ormore users of the group of users; and display, to the first user via amobile device, a real-time location of each user of the group of usersalong with the assigned value from the one or more users of the group ofusers.

Still yet another aspect of the present invention includes a method forevaluating an item distributed to a group of users at a collaborativeevent, comprising: providing a computer infrastructure operable to:receive the item from a first user; distribute the item to the group ofusers, wherein the group of users is located within an identifiedgeographic proximity to the first user, and wherein the first user andthe group of users are attendees of a same interactive event; receive anassigned value for the item from one or more users of the group ofusers; and display, to the first user via a mobile device, a real-timelocation of each user of the group of users along with the assignedvalue from the one or more users of the group of users

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features of this invention will be more readilyunderstood from the following detailed description of the variousaspects of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows an architecture in which the invention may be implementedaccording to illustrative embodiments;

FIG. 2 shows a more detailed view of an collaboration tool forevaluating an item distributed to a group of users at a collaborativeevent according to illustrative embodiments;

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary mobile device according to illustrativeembodiments;

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary mobile device according to illustrativeembodiments;

FIG. 5 shows an exemplary mobile device according to illustrativeembodiments; and

FIG. 6 shows another process flow for displaying and evaluating an itemdistributed to a group of users at a collaborative event according toillustrative embodiments.

The drawings are not necessarily to scale. The drawings are merelyrepresentations, not intended to portray specific parameters of theinvention. The drawings are intended to depict only typical embodimentsof the invention, and therefore should not be considered as limiting inscope. In the drawings, like numbering represents like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary embodiments will now be described more fully herein withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodimentsare shown. It will be appreciated that this disclosure may be embodiedin many different forms and should not be construed as limited to theexemplary embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these exemplaryembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough andcomplete and will fully convey the scope of this disclosure to thoseskilled in the art.

Furthermore, the terminology used herein is for the purpose ofdescribing particular embodiments only and is not intended to belimiting of this disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a”,“an”, and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unlessthe context clearly indicates otherwise. Furthermore, the use of theterms “a”, “an”, etc., do not denote a limitation of quantity, butrather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced items. Itwill be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or“comprising”, or “includes” and/or “including”, when used in thisspecification, specify the presence of stated features, regions,integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do notpreclude the presence or addition of one or more other features,regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/orgroups thereof.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, it may be appreciated that termssuch as “processing,” “detecting,” “determining,” “evaluating,”“receiving,” or the like, refer to the action and/or processes of acomputer or computing system, or similar electronic data center device,that manipulates and/or transforms data represented as physicalquantities (e.g., electronic) within the computing system's registersand/or memories into other data similarly represented as physicalquantities within the computing system's memories, registers or othersuch information storage, transmission or viewing devices. Theembodiments are not limited in this context.

As stated above, embodiments described herein provide approaches forevaluating and displaying feedback for an item distributed to a group ofusers, e.g., at a collaborative event. Specifically, at least oneapproach includes receiving the item (e.g., a topic, idea, product) froma first user, and distributing the item to the group of users, whereinthe group of users is located within an identified geographic proximityto the first user. An assigned value (e.g., demand quantified thoughbuy/sell data) is then received for the item from one or more users ofthe group of users, and displayed to the first user via a mobile device,along with a real-time location of each user of the group of users. Inone approach, each user's mobile device displays a geographic distancefrom other users at the collaborative event.

The approaches described herein contain numerous advantages over presentmethods by providing a collaborative ideation and networking applicationwhereby conference attendees buy/sell ideas on a mobile app, and aRFID/GPS enabled mobile game tells each attendee within how many feet anidea supporters/resistors is. Each attendee may be tagged with his/heridea and shown geographically using a map function of the application,wherein a click on an attendee allows the application to zoom into andaccess his/her idea and his/her idea's stock price/voting mechanism.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a computerized implementation 100 of anexemplary embodiment will be shown and described. As depicted,implementation 100 includes computer system 104 deployed within acomputer infrastructure, such as a mobile device 102. This is intendedto demonstrate, among other things, that the present invention could beimplemented within a network environment (e.g., the Internet, a widearea network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), a virtual privatenetwork (VPN), etc.), a cloud-computing environment, a cellular network,or on a stand-alone computer system. Communication throughout thenetwork can occur via any combination of various types of communicationlinks. For example, the communication links can comprise addressableconnections that may utilize any combination of wired and/or wirelesstransmission methods. Where communications occur via the Internet,connectivity could be provided by conventional TCP/IP sockets-basedprotocol, and an Internet service provider could be used to establishconnectivity to the Internet. Still yet, mobile device 102 is intendedto demonstrate that some or all of the components of implementation 100could be deployed, managed, serviced, etc., by a service provider whooffers to implement, deploy, and/or perform the functions of the presentinvention for others.

Computer system 104 is intended to represent any type of computer systemthat may be implemented in deploying/realizing the teachings recitedherein. In this particular example, computer system 104 represents anillustrative system for evaluating and displaying feedback for an itemdistributed to a group of users, e.g., at a collaborative event. Itshould be understood that any other computers implemented under thepresent invention may have different components/software, but willperform similar functions. As shown, computer system 104 includes aprocessing unit 106 capable of communicating with an collaboration tool118 stored in memory 108, a bus 110, and device interfaces 112.

Processing unit 106 refers, generally, to any apparatus that performslogic operations, computational tasks, control functions, etc. Aprocessor may include one or more subsystems, components, and/or otherprocessors. A processor will typically include various logic componentsthat operate using a clock signal to latch data, advance logic states,synchronize computations and logic operations, and/or provide othertiming functions. During operation, processing unit 106 collects androutes signals representing inputs and outputs between external devices115, input devices 116, and collaboration tool 118. The signals can betransmitted over a LAN and/or a WAN (e.g., T1, T3, 56 kb, X.25),broadband connections (ISDN, Frame Relay, ATM), wireless links (802.11,Bluetooth, etc.), and so on. In some embodiments, the signals may beencrypted using, for example, trusted key-pair encryption. Differentsystems may transmit information using different communication pathways,such as Ethernet or wireless networks, direct serial or parallelconnections, USB, Firewire®, Bluetooth®, or other proprietaryinterfaces. (Firewire is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.Bluetooth is a registered trademark of Bluetooth Special Interest Group(SIG)).

In general, processing unit 106 executes computer program code, such asprogram code for operating collaboration tool 118, which is stored inmemory 108 and/or storage system 114. While executing computer programcode, processing unit 106 can read and/or write data to/from memory 108,storage system 114, and collaboration tool 118. Storage system 114 caninclude VCRs, DVRs, RAID arrays, USB hard drives, optical diskrecorders, flash storage devices, and/or any other data processing andstorage elements for storing and/or processing data.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the structure and operation of mobile device202 and collaboration tool 218, which together are capable of evaluatingand displaying feedback for an item distributed to a group of users,will be described in greater detail. In various embodiments, mobiledevice 202 may include, without limitation, a mobile computing device, asmart phone, a telephone, a digital telephone, a cellular telephone,eBook readers, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handset, anultra-mobile device, a messaging device, a computer, a laptop computer,a notebook computer, a netbook computer, a handheld computer, a tabletcomputer, a mini-computer, a network appliance, a web appliance,consumer electronics, programmable consumer electronics, game devices,or combination thereof. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

As shown, mobile device 202 is associated with and operated by a firstuser 220, who is an attendee at a collaborate/interactive event, e.g.,an industry-specific conference. Collaboration tool 218 includes aregistration component 230 for enrolling first user 220 and a group ofusers 224A-N, each operating his/her own mobile device 226, as attendeesof the same conference. As shown, mobile device 226 similarly containscollaboration tool 218, which may be a mobile device applicationdownloaded to each attendees' mobile device, e.g., in advance of theconference or during initial registration. In one embodiment,collaboration tool 218 is downloaded to each mobile device using a QRbarcode scanner. Once installed, first user 220 and group of users224A-N are recognized as attendees of the same conference, andcollaborative interaction may commence.

In one embodiment, prior to the event, first user 220 and group of users224A-N can each provide a user profile that contains varying levels ofinformation. For example, each user can select, store, and maintainmultiple user profiles for multiple events. Each user profile can havedifferent settings since each event attendee's goals and objectives forattending each event may be different. Each user can enter relevantemployment, demographic, information, etc., for the selected profile.Additionally, the event attendee will have the option of enteringauthentication credentials for a plurality of social media messagingplatforms, by clicking or otherwise selecting an icon. By entering andsaving the event attendees authentication credentials, event managementor other attendees will be able to use the social media platform APIs tosend and receive communications.

Next, mobile device 202 receives one or more items 232 (e.g., a product,an idea, a discussion topic, a presentation topic, a blog post, areaction to a presentation topic, or a response to virtually anythingelse occurring at the conference) from first user 220 at a distributioncomponent 236. In one embodiment, first user 320 posts an idea to aninput component of a GUI 334, as shown in FIG. 3. First user 320 canprovide a title, category, description, etc., which is thenpublished/distributed to group of users 224A-N (FIG. 2) when the submitbutton is selected.

Referring again to FIG. 2, each attendee from group of users 224A-N isthen able to view the item(s) 232 published by first user 220, andassign it a value. A feedback component 238 aggregates the assignedvalues from each of users 224A-N, and displays this information to firstuser 220. In one embodiment, feedback component 238 determines a set ofusers from group of users 224A-N that have either: assigned a positivevalue to item 232, or assigned a negative value to item 232. In anotherembodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the assigned value is represented as aprediction market-type stock price/voting mechanism 440, whichaggregates the beliefs and opinions of multiple conference attendees togenerate and quantify a desire for the published item. This can bedisplayed to first user 420 via GUI 434. This allows each attendee toreceive real-time values associated with each idea, as provided byfellow attendees, including the item having a highest assigned value.

As shown in FIG. 5, first user 520 also has the ability to view his/hercurrent location relative to each user 524A-N, as well as the assignedvalue from those users who provided a value. In this non-limitingexample, display component 242 (FIG. 2) displays, via GUI 534, aquantified geographic distance between first user 520 and each user524A-N, along with an indication of whether the particular user has apositive opinion (+) or a negative opinion (−) of first user's idea. Inother embodiments, instead of using a +/− graphic, alternative graphicalelements, including colors, could be used in event activity maps toindicate a level of activity and interest in the idea. For example, byusing red, orange and yellow colored graphics to indicate a user withstrong interest in the idea, and using blue and green to represent userswith weak interest or a negative rating for the idea, a “heat” map couldbe generated. This provides another visual guide for first user 520.

In one embodiment, first user 520 and users 524A-N grant various levelsof permission for tracking and location display (e.g., provide positiontracking for event attendee only, provide position tracking fordesignated friends or colleagues, provide position tracking for allevents and locations, etc.). Users may also “check in” at an activity byscanning a QR code or bar code located at an event venue such as a boothwhen prompted by a “push” notification or other method. Each user mayconfigure his/her mobile device to publish GPS or geocoding information.

In one example, if first user 520 has enabled tracking, when anotheruser 524A-N (e.g., another user who has indicated a negative opinion ofan idea) is located within a preconfigured proximity, mobile device 502will produce a notification (e.g., pop-up alert, e-mail, text message,etc.). Each user will be able to establish the boundaries for trackinginformation so as to protect privacy at his/her comfort level. In apreferred embodiment, the location and movement tracking functions useaggregated data only and no movement activity for any event attendee isstored except in the user's personal profile. Additionally, a movementdatabase can be created for each of the event attendees based on theirmovements through the event venue.

First user 520 can leverage this insight in a number of useful ways.First, it allows first user 520 to identify and locate those attendeesthat have either a negative or positive opinion so that first user 520can engage in a meaningful discussion to understand the reasons for theopinions. Second, it allows first user 520 to identify attendees toinvite to a meeting/workshop or to one or more social media websitesassociated with first user for further interaction. Based on adiscussion or workshop, for example, first user 520 may refine his/heridea, and see the effect immediately by re-publishing the idea andobtaining an updated valuation from the other attendees.

In one embodiment, top idea submitters can be recognized at theconference, either through a public award/prize, a special networkingreception with other top idea submitters, or an invite to a lockedsocial media group. However, it'll be appreciated that many possiblebenefits can be awarded to conference attendees.

Although no explicitly shown, it will be appreciated that embodimentsherein include some form of security and/or encryption mechanism forverifying access to the data and information contained in andtransmitted to and from each conference attendee. The security mechanismmay be incorporated into collaboration tool 118 (FIG. 1). The securitymechanism is preferably configured to protect the integrity and securityof the information transmitted via a wireless network supporting thecollaborative event. In some embodiments, the security mechanism may becontained in or implemented in conjunction with certain hardwarecomponents (not shown) such as hardware-based firewalls, switches,dongles, and the like.

The exemplary computer system 104 (FIG. 1) may be described in thegeneral context of computer-executable instructions, such as programmodules, being executed by a computer. Generally, program modulesinclude routines, programs, people, components, logic, data structures,and so on, which perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Exemplary computer system 104 may be practiced indistributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remoteprocessing devices that are linked through a communications network. Ina distributed computing environment, program modules may be located inboth local and remote computer storage media including memory storagedevices.

As depicted in FIG. 6, a system (e.g., computer system 104) carries outthe methodologies disclosed herein. Shown is a process flow 600 forcontrolling inadvertent inputs to a mobile device. At 601, an item isreceived from a first user. At 603, the item is distributed to a groupof users, wherein the group of users is located within an identifiedgeographic proximity to the first user. At 605, an assigned value isreceived for the item from one or more of the group of users. At 607, areal-time location of each user of the group of users is displayed tothe first user along with the assigned value from one or more users ofthe group of users.

Process flow 600 of FIG. 6 illustrates the architecture, functionality,and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, andcomputer program products according to various embodiments of thepresent invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart mayrepresent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one ormore executable instructions for implementing the specified logicalfunction(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the blocks might occur out ofthe order depicted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown insuccession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently. It willalso be noted that each block of flowchart illustration can beimplemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform thespecified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

It can be appreciated that the approaches disclosed herein can be usedwithin a computer system to optimize a network and componentconfiguration in a dense server environment. In this case, as shown inFIG. 1, collaboration tool 118 can be provided, and one or more systemsfor performing the processes described in the invention can be obtainedand deployed to computer infrastructure 102. To this extent, thedeployment can comprise one or more of (1) installing program code on acomputing device, such as a computer system, from a computer-readablestorage medium; (2) adding one or more computing devices to theinfrastructure; and (3) incorporating and/or modifying one or moreexisting systems of the infrastructure to enable the infrastructure toperform the process actions of the invention.

The exemplary computer system 104 (FIG. 1) may be described in thegeneral context of computer-executable instructions, such as programmodules, being executed by a computer. Generally, program modulesinclude routines, programs, people, components, logic, data structures,and so on, which perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Exemplary computer system 104 may be practiced indistributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remoteprocessing devices that are linked through a communications network. Ina distributed computing environment, program modules may be located inboth local and remote computer storage media including memory storagedevices.

Some of the functional components described in this specification havebeen labeled as systems or units in order to more particularly emphasizetheir implementation independence. For example, a system or unit may beimplemented as a hardware circuit comprising custom VLSI circuits orgate arrays, off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logic chips,transistors, or other discrete components. A system or unit may also beimplemented in programmable hardware devices such as field programmablegate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logic devices or thelike. A system or unit may also be implemented in software for executionby various types of processors. A system or unit or component ofexecutable code may, for instance, comprise one or more physical orlogical blocks of computer instructions, which may, for instance, beorganized as an object, procedure, or function. Nevertheless, theexecutables of an identified system or unit need not be physicallylocated together, but may comprise disparate instructions stored indifferent locations which, when joined logically together, comprise thesystem or unit and achieve the stated purpose for the system or unit.

Further, a system or unit of executable code could be a singleinstruction, or many instructions, and may even be distributed overseveral different code segments, among different programs, and acrossseveral memory devices. Similarly, operational data may be identifiedand illustrated herein within modules, and may be embodied in anysuitable form and organized within any suitable type of data structure.The operational data may be collected as a single data set, or may bedistributed over different locations including over different storagedevices and disparate memory devices.

Furthermore, systems/units may also be implemented as a combination ofsoftware and one or more hardware devices. For instance, collaborationtool 118 may be embodied in the combination of a software executablecode stored on a memory medium (e.g., memory storage device). In afurther example, a system or unit may be the combination of a processorthat operates on a set of operational data.

As noted above, some of the embodiments may be embodied in hardware. Thehardware may be referenced as a hardware element. In general, a hardwareelement may refer to any hardware structures arranged to perform certainoperations. In one embodiment, for example, the hardware elements mayinclude any analog or digital electrical or electronic elementsfabricated on a substrate. The fabrication may be performed usingsilicon-based integrated circuit (IC) techniques, such as complementarymetal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), bipolar, and bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS)techniques, for example. Examples of hardware elements may includeprocessors, microprocessors, circuits, circuit elements (e.g.,transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, and so forth), integratedcircuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), programmablelogic devices (PLD), digital signal processors (DSP), field programmablegate array (FPGA), logic gates, registers, semiconductor devices, chips,microchips, chip sets, and so forth. However, the embodiments are notlimited in this context.

Any of the components provided herein can be deployed, managed,serviced, etc. by a service provider that offers to deploy or integratecomputing infrastructure with respect to a process for optimizing anetwork composition and component configuration in a dense serverenvironment. Thus, embodiments herein disclose a process for supportingcomputer infrastructure, comprising integrating, hosting, maintainingand deploying computer-readable code into a computing system (e.g.,computer system 104), wherein the code in combination with the computingsystem is capable of performing the functions described herein.

Also noted above, some embodiments may be embodied in software. Thesoftware may be referenced as a software element. In general, a softwareelement may refer to any software structures arranged to perform certainoperations. In one embodiment, for example, the software elements mayinclude program instructions and/or data adapted for execution by ahardware element, such as a processor. Program instructions may includean organized list of commands comprising words, values, or symbolsarranged in a predetermined syntax that, when executed, may cause aprocessor to perform a corresponding set of operations.

The present invention may also be a computer program product. Thecomputer program product may include a computer readable storage medium(or media) having computer readable program instructions thereon forcausing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

It is apparent that there has been provided approaches for evaluating anitem distributed to a group of users. While the invention has beenparticularly shown and described in conjunction with exemplaryembodiments, it will be appreciated that variations and modificationswill occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it is to beunderstood that the appended claims are intended to cover all suchmodifications and changes that fall within the true spirit of theinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for evaluating an item distributed to agroup of users, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:receiving the item from a first user; distributing the item to the groupof users, wherein the group of users is located within an identifiedgeographic proximity to the first user; receiving an assigned value forthe item from one or more users of the group of users; and displaying,to the first user via a mobile device, a real-time location of each userof the group of users along with the assigned value from the one or moreusers of the group of users.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising the computer implemented step of enrolling the first user andthe group of users as attendees of a same interactive event.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising the computer-implemented step ofdisplaying, along with the first user and the group of users, a set ofitems.
 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising thecomputer-implemented step of recognizing an item from the set of itemsas having a highest assigned value.
 5. The method of claim 1, thedisplaying further comprising providing, to the first user, a quantifiedgeographic distance between the first user and each user of the group ofusers.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining a setof users from the group of users that have either: assigned a positivevalue to the item, or assigned a negative value to the item; andidentifying, to the first user, the set of users.
 7. The method of claim6, further comprising the computer implemented step of providing aninvite from the first user to the set of users to one or more socialmedia websites associated with the first user.
 8. The method of claim 1,the item including one or more of the following: a product, an idea, adiscussion topic, a presentation topic, and a reaction to a presentationtopic.
 9. A system for evaluating an item distributed to a group ofusers, comprising: a memory medium comprising program instructions; abus coupled to the memory medium; and a processor, for executing theprogram instructions, coupled to an collaboration tool via the bus thatwhen executing the program instructions causes the system to: receivethe item from a first user; distribute the item to the group of users,wherein the group of users is located within an identified geographicproximity to the first user; receive an assigned value for the item fromone or more users of the group of users; and display, to the first uservia a mobile device, a real-time location of each user of the group ofusers along with the assigned value from the one or more users of thegroup of users.
 10. The system of claim 9, the program instructionsfurther causing the system to enroll the first user and the group ofusers as attendees of a same interactive event.
 11. The system of claim9, the program instructions further causing the system to display, alongwith the first user and the group of users, a set of items.
 12. Thesystem of claim 11, the program instructions further causing the systemto recognize an item from the set of items as having a highest assignedvalue.
 13. The system of claim 9, the instructions causing the system todisplay further comprising instructions to provide, to the first user, aquantified geographic distance between the first user and each user ofthe group of users.
 14. The method of claim 9, the instructions causingthe system to: determine a set of users from the group of users thathave either: assigned a positive value to the item, or assigned anegative value to the item; and identify, to the first user, the set ofusers.
 15. The method of claim 9, the item including one or more of thefollowing: a product, an idea, a discussion topic, a presentation topic,and a reaction to a presentation topic.
 16. A computer program productfor evaluating an item distributed to a group of users at acollaborative event, the computer program product comprising a computerreadable storage device, and program instructions stored on the computerreadable storage device, to: receive the item from a first user;distribute the item to the group of users, wherein the group of users islocated within an identified geographic proximity to the first user, andwherein the first user and the group of users are attendees of a sameinteractive event; receive an assigned value for the item from one ormore users of the group of users; and display, to the first user via amobile device, a real-time location of each user of the group of usersalong with the assigned value from the one or more users of the group ofusers.
 17. The computer program product of claim 16, further comprisingprogram instructions to display, along with the first user and the groupof users, a set of items.
 18. The computer program product of claim 16,further comprising program instructions to provide, to the first user, aquantified geographic distance between the first user and each user ofthe group of users.
 19. The computer program product of claim 16,further comprising program instructions to: determine a set of usersfrom the group of users that have either: assigned a positive value tothe item, or assigned a negative value to the item; and identify, to thefirst user, the set of users.
 20. The computer program product of claim16, the item including one or more of the following: a product, an idea,a discussion topic, a presentation topic, and a reaction to apresentation topic.